1. UN Millennium Development Goals
“We are seeing a catastrophe. After years of going down, the number of people in poverty is growing again. We saw social uprisings across Africa and China -- and very harsh repression by governments that left many protesters dead. Food shortages allowed several governments, among others Zimbabwe and North Korea, to use food as a political weapon.”
Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International, May 2009
“We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected.”
United Nations Millennium Declaration, September 2000
“End poverty by 2015” was the goal set by 189 countries at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000. Adopting the Millennium Declaration, they agreed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
The MDGs form an 8-point road map,coveringthe main problems faced by the world’s poorest regions. They aim to:
- eradicate extreme poverty and hunger,
- achieve universal education,
- promote gender equality and women empowerment,
- reduce child mortality,
- improve maternal health,
- combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
- ensure environmental sustainability and
- enhance a global partnership.
The MDGs set measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of people in developing countries. The international community agreed an approach based on human rights and sustainable economic growth with a focus on the poor. Direct support comes from richer countries in the form of aid, trade, debt relief and investment.
A further UN Resolution came at the 2005 World Summit. The MDGs were translated into 21 quantifiable targets, measured by 60 indicatorsto be achieved by 2015 starting from a baseline of 1990.
